Adjustable chair



June 2, 1942. J, M, Dom-0N 2,285,112

ADJUSTABLE CHAIR John Mloron,

:inventor:

Patented .lune 2,1942 v 'I iihli'ih STATES FATNT `OFFICE'.

ADJUSTABLE CHAIR John M. Dorton, Bonner Springs, Kans.

l Application July 13, 1939, Serial No. 284,264

1 Claim.4 (Cl. 155-116) My invention relates to an adjustable chair andone object of the invention is the provision of a chair of thischaracter in which the seat may be adjusted forward orbackward and theback may be adjusted upward or downward through pressure exerted by theoccupant of the chair.

A further object of the invention is the'provision of means for securingthe seat and the back of the chair in any of their adjusted positions.

Another object is to connect the seat and the back of the chair in suchmanner that as the back is let down to a reclining position the seat ismoved forward to keep the chair balanced so that it will not tipbackward under the weight of the occupant.

Other objects will hereinafter appear, and in order that the inventionmay be fully understood reference will now be to the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the chair with theupholstery and some of the other parts removed, and the head-restadjusted to its lowermostV position in full lines and adjusted to itsuppermost or idle position in dotted lines.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the chair with the headrest and some of theother parts removed.

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional View of the chair on line 3 3 of Fig.2, with the head-rest added and adjusted to its uppermost position infull lines and to an intermediate position in dotted lines.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section on line 4 4 of Fig. 1 of one of a pair ofhinges which connect the back to the seat frame of the chair.

Fig. 5 is an enlarged cross section on line 5 of Fig. 1 showing one of apair of guideways and one of a pair of rollers for adjusting the chairback to different inclinations when the chair seat is moved forward orbackward.

In carrying out my invention I provide a pair of supporting members 2each of which is preferably formed from-one piece of tubing andcomprises front and rear legs 4 and 6, respectively, and an arm rest 8uniting said legs. The arm rests 8 arev upholstered with soft rubber orother suitable material 9 and the legs are mounted upon casters I@ whichare preferably swiveled upon the lower ends of the legs so that they mayreadily turn in diiferent directions. The supporting members 2 areunited at their front and rear portions with transverse members I2 andeach supporting member is provided with a rail I4 fixed tothe-.associated front and rear legs 4 and 6, respectively.

A seat frame I6 located between the supporting members 2 Vis mounted forforward and backward movements upon the rails I4. Each side of the seatframe I6 comprises a lower member I8 bent upward at its rear end andconnected to an upper member 20 which is curved downward at its forwardYend and fixed to the forward end of the member I8. The lower seatmembers I8 are united at their front and rear ends with transversemembers 22 and provided near their rear ends with rollers-24 adapted totraverse the respective rails I4; which latter are equipped near theirforward ends with rollers'26 upon which the respective seat members I8are adapted to travel so that the seat framev I6 may be moved forward orbackward with but little effort on the part of the occupant of thechair. The lower seat members I8 have spaced rods IBa connected theretoto support lthe lower portion of a cushioned frame hereinafterdescribed.

The seat frame I6 is held in any of its ad justed positions with eitherone of a pair of racks 28 and a detent 30. Racks 28 are fixed upon therespective lower seat members I8 where they may be engaged by the detent3D which is fixed to a hand vlever 32 secured to a shaft 34 mounted inbearings 35 iixed to the under sides of the respective rails I4. Thehand lever 32 is applicable to either end of the shaft 34 for theconvenience of right or left handed users, so in orderthat it may bereadily removed from one end of shaft 34 and applied to the other endthereof the lower end of the hand lever is split and equipped with abolt 38 which may be tightened to firmly secure the hand lever upon theshaft. The detent 36 is yieldably engaged with the associated rack 28 bya coil spring 31 connected at one end to one of the rails I4 andconnected at its other end to a collar 39 fixed to shaft 34.

The back frame 40 of the chair is preferably made of tubular stock andcomprises two sides united at their upper and lower ends with transversemembers 42 and each side comprises front and rear members 44 and 46,respectively, the former of which is bent rearwardly at its upper endand fixed to the upper end of the latter which is bent forward at itslower end and fixed to the lower portion of the front member 44. Therear members 46 have transverse rods 46a connected thereto to coact withthe rods |80, in supporting the cushioned frame above referred to.

The front members 44 of the back frame 4i] are connected at their lowerends to the rear ends of the upper members 20 of the seat frame I6 withrespective hinges 48 so that the back frame 4i) may be raised or loweredto diiferent positions. Each hinge 48 comprises a pair of members 52 and50 fixed to the adjacent ends of the seat frame members 20 and the backframe members 44, respectively, and operably connected with a transversepin or screw 53. Each hinge member 52 is recessed to receive a feltwasher 56 which may be saturated with a suitable lubricant to facilitatethe operation of the` respective hinges and eliminate squeaks or othernoises.

Inclination of the back frame 40 to Various positions is automaticallycontrolled on forward or backward movement of the seat frame I6 with apair of rollers 58 and a pair of guideways 6U. The rollers 58 aremounted at the upper reduced portions of a pair of upwardly extendingsupporting elements 62 consisting preferably of sheet metal and rigidlysecured at their enlarged lower ends with suitable means such as screws64 to the respective rails I4. Each guideway B extends downward at anangle from the associated front member 44 to the rear member 46 of theback frame 4U and is fixed at its ends to said members 44 and 46.

A cushioned frame which may be upholstered is removably associated withthe seat and back frames I5 and 40, respectively. The cushioned frameincludes a plurality of coil springs 65, back and seat units 69 and '10,respectively, to each of which a number of the coil springs 66 are se- Ycured, a plurality of wire strands 68 secured at their upper ends to theupper portion of the unit B9 and at their lower ends to the coil springs66 on the forward part of the unit 10, and clips B1 which secure thewire strands 58 to the upper ends of the seat springs B6 and the forwardends of the back springs 66. Members 69a and H on the back and seatframes 4D and I6, hold the units 69 and 10, respectively, removably inplace.

The upper portions of the two side strands 68 are provided with bearings12, in which one end of respective arms 'l5 are operably mounted, theopposite end of each arm being operably connected to a head-rest 18adapted to be adjusted to the respective full and dotted line positionsdisclosed by Figs. 1 and 3.' f

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is:

1n a chair of the character described, a pair of rails, a seat-framemovable forward and backward upon said rails, a back-frame including twosides hinged at their lower ends to said seatframe, each side beingformed of tubular stock and comprising front and rear members theformer'of which is bent backward at its upper end and fixed to the upperend of the rear member which latter is bent forward at its lower end andXed to the lower portion of the front member, a straight guideway foreach side of the back-frame extending downward'from the front member tothe rear member, a roller extending into each guideway, and a pair ofsupporting elements extending upwardly from the rails and on the upperportions of which the rollers are mounted.

JOHN M. DOR/TON.

